Stair-gage.



EEST VLBIE COPY J. D. MURVINE.

STAIR GAGE.

APPLlCATION FILED MAY l 1917.

Patented Apr. 2,1918.

any: www! :toetsen ,EOSEBH ,1), MURVINE, DF L AKRON, OHIO.

STAlR-GAQE.

'.Speeiileation of Letters Patent.

'Appleatioxr'ledlvfayl1, 1917. vvSerial No. 165,731.

Be itlmownfthat I, JosnrH'D. MIJ-Irvine, a citizen of the United States, residing at Akron, in the-county of'Suminit andfState 'of Ohio, have inventedfcertain useful proveinents in Stai-#Gages of .which the following in a'.speciteatloinareference being i had therein to the accompanying; drawing.

' The present invention i relates broadly r to improvements in -ineasuringfv instruments and more w particularly `has vrefertmoe to a fstair gage. The invention as its principal: object, contemplates --the )provision of an ini-proved v'gage Vofthe character describedfembody-ing a pair fof adjnstably connected adjustable members through the i medium 'of `which fa mechanic or carpenter' hay l by :placing the device on the stringers of. the 1 stairway and .adjusting the members againstfthe skirting boards obtain the .length-,and-cutfof both `thetr-ead and riser portionsottherstairivay 1in one operation, z-thns providingsan-improved laborsaving device.

More particularly, the present invention embraces :the .provision fof y'novel means Lffor adj ustably connecting a .fpair of adjustable members-:Which :constitute ltri-squares.

"More specific objects ofi thelpresent invention consist inf the -provisionfot' novel means for preventing :relative transverse v'inloveynient I of they adjustable members `subsequent .to adjusting themrelativefto each other; and to provide novel meansntorxadjustably connecting `the blades or larrns :of the -Inain section of theimembel.

`Among theotherf aims and lobjects of this `invention may be recitedthe'provision;of n

' tionwith `the .aeooinnanylng :drawings and pointed ont in the claims, forming .part of thssneciieation The preferred embdlment Q, .the fpl'eolfl V,i nvinltitin is clearly' illustrated l intheaceompanying drawings, in which:`-

*ligure- 1. ,nersreetieeshowing the device applied to a portion of a stairway in the lcourse of Voolfletru,etion.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan.

:Fig 3 is anfend. elevationof the invention.

Fig. 4. is Ian enlarged perspective detail i showing fthe means for adj ustabl-y connecting theanain sections of themembers.relative to` each other.

Fig. .5 is an enlargedtransverse section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2 inthe direction in vwhich the arrows point.

Similar characters of reference yare .emplOyedin all'of the above-4described-views, `toindicate corresponding parts.

Referring now, f morezparticularly, .to the accompanying drawings there is provided `e Stairvvay'inoluding spaced sirirting boards l`,1 andspaoed stringere Zierrangednarallel .tofeachother and to and betweenthefslrirt ving boards. vSteps embodying riser portions 2? and tread portions Aaremounted lon `rthe stringere xbetween #the Iskirt-ing boards in .the usual manner. Resting :on .the stringere between the adjaoentfriser portions and the skirtingrbollfds is unlim- .proved `stair fgage embodying l, the :present `invention and indicated in its fr entirety :fby

the numeral. 5.

:.In, the present instance: thel present invention consists veta-pair of sections- :antlf, which lare respectivelyrednced toward their outer ends to provide diagonal. shouldens. Blades -9 `have their linner ends :,pivotally Connectedto the outer terminalsotthefreduced portions `of ,the sections 6 and .7 through the medium of @suitable fastening ,devices'such as bolts `l0whileWingedmuts Il1- serve to frictionallyclamp the blades 9 .at various inclinations relative to the {sections 6. Thcoutcr.endsofithe bladesiare beveled Y as indicated .by -the numeral 12in vconform-t0 the inclinatonof the diagonal shoulders and are adapted to abutftlie lsaid shoulders-When the blades .are sivungginto a closed position. .It will beappfreoeted thatthesections and the blades atormino' the adjustable members constitute a. suy stantially ,adjustable T-squat'e.

With a view toward providingsuitable Vmeans lfor adjnstingitlie sections G :and .T relatire to each :other .a tongue 13. extends lfmglllllelly rOm-ftheinnel' edge .of the section 6 `and is provided on one 4surface with `'spaced parallel ribs .1st which extend throughout 1 the .length vof the :tongue for n ,purpose v.that will 'presently .nee-r. The inner end of the other section l() is reduced fas indicated -by y,the numeral while the Jinnerfsurface of the reduced end is provided ith spaced grooves 16 which extend throughout the length thereo't and in parallel relation with-each other so as to removably receive the spaced ribs 14. The side edges of the reduced end are provided with recesses 17 for a purposeV that will presently appear and likewise the main portion adjacent the diagonal shoulder provided by the reduced end is provided with a ledge 155.v A substantially rectangular' and metallic casing 19 is' now pr'vided, the side walls 20 thereof being arranged to engage the opposed recesses 17 while the main portion engages the ledge 18 and the front wall is arranged to abut the inner edge ot the reduced end. The casing is r imovably secured to the reduced end through the me dium of suitable fastening devices such as screws 21. The end wall is further provided with an opening 22 which permits of the slidable adjustment of the tongue 13V in the casing. VSuitable means such as a. set screw 23 threaded in the casing and trictionally engageable with the tree tace ot the tongue, serves to maintain the sections and 7 in a relatively adjusted position. By the arrangement thus described it will be appreciated that the 'fastening devices 21 cooperate with the side walls ZO and recesses 17 in rigidly yet removably maintaining the casing in position. Y

ln use, assuming that the parts have been assembled in the manner described, the gage is placed upon the tread supporting surface of the stringers asv indicated in Fig. 1 and by adjusting the set screw 23 the outer ends of the respective sections 6 and 7 are adjusted to abut the inner surtaces of the skirting boards 1 whereupon the set screw is tightened to maintain the sections in an adjustedk position. rllhe blades 9 are now swung upwardly to abut the inner surfaces oi the skirting boards and are clamped in a substantially rigid position through the medium of the winged nuts 11. hel device is now removed and placed on a board (not shown) to enable the stair builder to deter mine by the adjustment of the sections and blades the length of the tread and the cut thereof or in other words the inclination of theend edges with respect to the longitudinal edges. ltV will be also appreciated that when not inY use the blades may be folded in alinement with the sections 8 which latter-'may be adjusted into close relation with each other, thereby placing the entire device in a small compact form that may be readily and conveniently carried.

Asmany changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments ot this invention could be made without departing from incisos the scope thereof, and it is intended that all mattei' contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limited sense. lt is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all the generic and speciiic features of the invention herein describedand all statements of the scope ot' the invention, which, as a matter ot language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus i'i'ully described this invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters-Patent, is :N

1. A device of the character described including4 a pair of sections each having one end reduced to provide a diagonal shoulder, a bladepivotally and adj ustably mounted on the outer reduced end of each section, the free ends of the blades being beveled for removable engagement with the correspond ingly-shaped shoulders, a tongue tor-med on the opposite end of one or' the sections, a casing carried by the opposite end of the other section for slidably receiving the tongue, co-acting means on the tongue and on the adjacent end of the otheil section for guiding the sliding movement of the sections', and a set screw mounted in the casing and trictionally engageable with the tongue to consequently hold the sections in a relative adjusted position longitudinally ot' each other.

2. A stair gage including a pair ot' sections each of which has one end reduced to provide a beveled shoulder, a pair ot blades each having one end beveled, bolts for pivotally connecting the blades to the reduced ends of the sections, winged nuts engageable with the blades for clamping the blades at various angles with resuect to the sections, the beveled ends ot the blades abutting the adjacent shoulders, when not in use, a tongue projecting trom the opposite Vend ot one of the sectionsspaced longitu dinal ribs on one surface of the tongue, the opposite end of the other section being duced and provided with spaced longitudinal grooves, a casing carried by the last mentioned reduced end of the other section and provided with an opening for slidably receiving the tongue and permitting of the ribs to slidably engage the grooves so that the sections may be adjusted longitudinally with respect to each other, and a s screv.v mounted in the casing for trictional engage ment with the tongue to consequent-ly hold the section in an adjusted position.

In testimony whereof l aiX my signature.

JOSEPH D. MURVNE.

@spies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Gommisstonex et retrata,

- Waebinanonl. i3. 

